As my Trump Kayfabe piece from this past week percolates through the innerwebz, I have been particularly struck by how the Lutheran heresy of “total depravity” and “cheap grace” has utterly infected our culture – even the “culturally conservative right”. It is interesting – in the sort of way a motorcycle accident on the interstate is “interesting”.
In review, I made the point after reading so many people positively defending and justifying through appeals to moral relativism and Luther’s heresy of “total depravity” Trump’s “pussy grabbing” remarks, that the heterosexual men that I hang around and call friends simply do never and would never utter such filth about a woman.
WELL, WELL, WELL. The innerwebz darn near exploded at that. Email after email, thread after thread, of men and women declaring that, in fact, EVERY MAN talks like that as soon as the womenfolk are out of earshot.
Interestingly the FreeRepublic thread was pulled by the Freep admin for being “anti-Trump b.s.”. Here’s that link.
Over at Western Rifle Shooters, there is very much the same sort of thread. FYI, Western Rifle Shooters is one of the biggest Alt-Right blogs. It has lots of good and useful content.
My email box has been the same – email after email stating that YUH-HUH ALL MEN DO SO TALK LIKE THAT, INCLUDING YOUR MALE “FRIENDS” ABOUT YOU!
Ace at Ace of Spades wrote a long screed saying the same thing (not about me personally, but in general).
Casual poll: Of the men out there who subscribe to this theory that ALL MEN – ALL MEN WITHOUT EXCEPTION talk like this, and if they don’t they are either fags or, if I may be permitted to use the word, DEPLORABLE Jesus freaks, how many of you view porn? Yeah. How many of you masturbate? Yeah. How many of you solicit the services of prostitutes? Probably a few. How many of you fornicate, or would without hesitation if a woman propositioned you or consented to your proposition? Yeppers. I know these things because either via email or on these comment threads around the web, men and women are admitting to these things. I don’t need to speculate. I’m seeing people confess to these things openly, particularly in the context of Trump.
What this shrieking, angry reaction to my simple statement of fact that the men I hang out with and call my friends simply do not ever speak about me or any other woman in such a manner is all about is self-justification and an attempt to downplay the severity of sin, or deny the sinfulness of a given act all together, by an appeal to populism (“everyone” does it), moral relativism (Bill Clinton is a rapist!), and Lutheranism (we are all totally depraved piles of shit, so there is no point in even striving to be a good person).
Beyond that, there is a decided timbre of citing such behavior by men as PROOF OF MORAL SUPERIORITY. Rugged, badass, manly men all talk about “pussy”! These are the “supermen”! These are the men that will save and rebuild western civilization!
Funny. Ernst Rohm said exactly the same thing about boy buggers.
But today while I was over at Sunday adoration and solemn benediction, it occurred to me that what we are seeing is the replaying out of Abraham’s “negotiations” with God over Sodom and Gomorrha. Genesis 18…
And the Lord said: The cry of Sodom and Gomorrha is multiplied, and their sin is become exceedingly grievous.
I will go down and see whether they have done according to the cry that is come to Me: or whether it be not so, that I may know. And they turned themselves from thence, and went their way to Sodom: but Abraham as yet stood before the Lord. And drawing nigh he said: Wilt Thou destroy the just with the wicked? If there be fifty just men in the city, shall they perish withal? and wilt Thou not spare that place for the sake of the fifty just, if they be therein? Far be it from Thee to do this thing, and to slay the just with the wicked, and for the just to be in like case as the wicked, this is not beseeming Thee: Thou who judgest all the earth, wilt not make this judgment.
And the Lord said to him: If I find in Sodom fifty just within the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake. And Abraham answered, and said: Seeing I have once begun, I will speak to my Lord, whereas I am dust and ashes. What if there be five less than fifty just persons? wilt Thou for five and forty destroy the whole city? And He said: I will not destroy it, if I find five and forty. And again he said to Him: But if forty be found there, what wilt Thou do? He said: I will not destroy it for the sake of forty. Lord, saith he, be not angry, I beseech Thee, if I speak: What if thirty shall be found there? He answered: I will not do it, if I find thirty there.
Seeing, saith he, I have once begun, I will speak to my Lord. What if twenty be found there? He said: I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty. I beseech Thee, saith he, be not angry, Lord, if I speak yet once more: What if ten should be found there? And He said: I will not destroy it for the sake of ten. And the Lord departed, after He had left speaking to Abraham: and Abraham returned to his place.
Long-short, there weren’t even ten decent men in Sodom and Gomorrha, and God greased both towns utterly and completely.
It is thought that Abraham was “negotiating” with the Second Person of the Triune Godhead, the Logos, pre-incarnation – also called a “Christophany”, an appearance of Christ.
It occurred to me today that what we have in our culture is a situation that is so far gone, so steeped in sexual sin and Lutheran heresy, is like unto the men of Sodom THEMSELVES insisting – ABSOLUTELY INSISTING – that not only are they depraved, but that the depravity is unanimous. They would have attacked Abraham for even suggesting that there were 50, then 40, then 30 then 20 then only 10 men who were NOT… well, Sodomites.
I look out and see an entire culture of people who have absolutely no sense of the fact that they might, just might have brought all of this shitstorm upon themselves, deserve every bit of what is coming, and that any sort of repentance or extreme behavior modification is needed. Whilst angrily INSISTING that they are depraved, proud of it, and that the depravity is unanimous, and no one had better DARE suggest otherwise.
Damn you Abraham, and damn your filthy negotiations, and damn your fictional, pathetic “ten just men”.
This is the post-Christian west’s cry. And yet it expects to be not only saved but allowed to persist.
I’ll conclude with the words of the men of Sodom to Lot in Genesis 19:9…
“Thou camest in,” said they, “as a stranger, was it to be a judge? Therefore we will afflict thee more than them.”
Plus ça change….